PINK REBELLION
Chapter 8: "Secrets Revealed"
By Bill K.

"Venus Crystal Power Make Up!"

The transformation, which always seemed to happen in an eye
blink most times, was agonizingly slow to Minako at the moment. As
she tried to will it to happen faster, there was no thought given to
the fact that she was transforming in front of Ami's mother and
little Sakiko. Her only thought was to transform fast enough and
snare Ami with her Love Me Chain before the girl fell too far or too
fast. A sudden stop at the wrong speed could snap her neck, but a
fall from this height was certain death.

As the transformation took place, Mrs. Mizuno barely took heed
of it. She was already peering anxiously over the railing, watching
her daughter's life flash before her eyes. Minako was forgotten, as
was Sakiko. She searched in vain at first, only to readjust her
sight lower and pick up Ami's form. What she saw amazed her.

While she plummeted, her daughter was transforming before her
eyes. Light swirled around her petite form, and coalesced into a
blue and white uniform. Just that suddenly, Mrs. Mizuno had the
answer to every question that had bothered her about her daughter for
the last two and a half years. And she'd trade it all to have her
standing next to her on the balcony at that moment.

"Venus Love Me Chain!" roared Venus.

The golden links of the chain shot out from behind Mrs. Mizuno
toward her daughter. Ami - - Sailor Mercury - - twisted in the air
as she fell, trying to grab hold. The chain approached her, but
ended precious inches away, Mercury's fingers desperately clawing for
the chain and falling short.

"AMMIIIIIIIIII!" wailed Venus, pressed against the railing next
to Ami's horrified mother.

"She's so scared!" cried Palla-Palla suddenly. Makoto, Usa and
the other Amazons stopped in the middle of the courtyard leading up
to Ami's apartment building and turned back to Palla-Palla with
inquiring gazes. Jun-Jun noticed another person in the courtyard
point up into the sky. She followed the direction and her eyes
popped.

"Transform now!" she barked. Instantly Cere-Cere and Ves-Ves
obeyed. Palla-Palla just stood there, her eyes wide and her lower
lip quivering.

"Somebody fell off the building!" Usa screamed even as her
senshi finished their transformation.

"Fauna Assimilation - - Eagle!" bellowed Sailor Vesta.
Instantly her form seemed to shimmer. Her arms morphed into wings
while her legs grew squat and powerful, growing razor talons on the
ends of her feet. "Juno!" she gasped as she launched herself
impossibly into the air, her now keen eyesight identifying the
victim, "It's Sensei Mercury-sama!"

"Mercury?" cried Makoto, straining to confirm the sight.

Lifted by her powerful wings, Vesta soared up into the air and
met Mercury at the twenty-eighth floor. Mercury was amazed by the
sight of the human-avian hybrid, but kept her head. Vesta rose up
behind her with a powerful wing stroke, then grabbed Mercury's
shoulders with her taloned feet.

"I'm trying not to puncture you," grunted Vesta, straining to
hold Mercury aloft.

"It's better than slamming into pavement!" gasped Mercury.

"She did it!" shrieked Usa happily.

"But she can't stay aloft!" Ceres gasped. "She forgot an
eagle's not strong enough to support a human!"

It was true. Vesta valiantly flapped her wings trying to stay
aloft, but the drag of gravity was pulling them both to the earth.
At best, she would only slow their descent enough to suffer only
crippling injuries.

"She's slowed her enough, though! I think I can try this!"
Juno said, pushing to the front. "Aqua Initiation!"

In answer to her call, the sidewalk beneath them all began to
rumble. At first it was thought to be an earthquake, but suddenly
the cement exploded and a huge gusher of water shot up into the air.
Defying gravity, the pressurized liquid met Ami and Vesta at the
twenty-first floor.

Had she been falling at full speed, the impact with the
pressurized water would have likely broken Mercury's back and/or
limbs. Slowed by Vesta, it was only like accelerating into a brick
wall. Mercury lay stunned, Vesta sprawled on top of her, while the
gusher of water gently lowered them to the ground. By the time the
water died away, Makoto, Usa, Juno and Ceres were around her.

"Mercury, are you all right?" asked Makoto.

Mercury took a moment to mentally inventory her body. "I'm
going to be a little sore in the morning," she chuckled, slightly
giddy from the adrenaline rush. "But it's far better than what I was
facing!" She turned to Vesta and Juno. "Thank you. Thank you
both!"

Vesta and Juno bowed to her, awestruck, as if they'd just
received praise from on high. Then, out of the corner of her eye,
Juno noticed Usa looking at them with newly born respect and
admiration. Juno's chest swelled with pride. She nudged Vesta and
gestured surreptitiously toward Usa. Vesta glanced at the
pink-haired teen and grinned.

Ceres, meanwhile, had drifted back to Palla-Palla, who was
still frozen in place about twenty yards away. She approached
carefully, noting Palla-Palla's stricken, scared face and manner.
Taking the girl's hand, she stroked her sister Amazon's shoulder.

"It's OK, Palla-Palla," Ceres said softly, trying to reassure
the girl. "Vesta and Juno saved her."

Palla-Palla turned and looked at her with confusion.

"But Palla-Palla was talking about the little girl," she said
in a scared, child-like voice.

Up on the roof, Venus jumped up into the air and pumped her
fist. She saw Artemis when she landed and broke out into a huge
grin.

"They did it, Artemis!" she cried. "They saved her!"

Just then, realization slapped her back to reality.
Remembering Mrs. Mizuno, Venus nervously turned to the woman, biting
her lip. Ami's mother was no dummy. She had just blown Ami's cover
and her own. But Mrs. Mizuno was curled up against the balcony's
support wall, crying desperate, grateful tears. Surreptitiously
Venus inched over to Artemis.

"Any idea where the kid is?" Venus whispered to the white cat.

"I saw her go tearing out of here," Artemis whispered in reply.
"She looked pretty distraught, too. I'm pretty sure Ami wasn't her
target."

"Well, we've got to find the little monster fast!"

"Venus, she wasn't trying to kill Ami."

"No, she was trying to kill me," Venus said coldly. "And even
so, she might not have been trying to kill her father, either, but
he's still dead. Now we've got to run this kid to ground before she
'accidentally' kills anyone else."

Venus and Artemis quietly eased out of the penthouse.

"I hate to say this," Artemis said in the hall, "but you may be
right."

"Yeah?" Venus grinned. "Can I have that in writing?"

"No," deadpanned Artemis.

By the time she got back to the ground floor, Venus was Minako
again. She quickly linked up with Ami and Makoto.

"Sakiko's on the loose," Minako told them. "She's angry and
desperate and she's willing to kill to get her way. We've got to
find her like now."

"I'll join up with you in a bit," Ami replied, preoccupied. "I
think I've got a few things to explain to Mother first." Makoto and
Minako stared at her sympathetically, then nodded. As Ami ran back
into the building, Makoto turned to Usa and the Amazon senshi.

"You five want to tag along while we look for Sakiko?" she
asked.

"Well," hesitated Usa. "Hotaru gets out of school soon. I'd
kind of like to be with her."

"This is a little more important," Makoto countered. "Can't
visiting your friends wait?"

"I really can't explain," Usa replied with an agonized
expression. Makoto tried to gauge what she was thinking.

"OK. I guess you got to do what you got to do." She looked at
the Amazons.

"Um, we're real sorry, Makoto, but we really should stick with
her," Jun-Jun replied. "You know, Queen's orders and stuff. Please
accept our apologies."

Makoto nodded and moved off with Minako and Artemis.

"Respectful little brats, aren't they?" Minako remarked. "I
like that."

Ami peered inside of the penthouse. Aside from the shattered
balcony doors, everything was fine. She stepped inside, knowing
Sakiko was gone and yet hoping in vain that the girl was still there
waiting for her. Suddenly a body slammed into her and arms wrapped
around her torso, crushing her. Taken by surprise, Ami twisted her
head around and found her mother clutching her like she would never
let go. Relief washed over Ami and she brought her arms around her
mother's waist.

"Oh Ami!" the woman sobbed. "Thank the gods you're safe!"

"I'm sorry I scared you, Mother," Ami whispered in her ear.

Her mother pulled back from her just enough to look her in the
eye and Ami knew she knew everything.

"I'm also sorry you had to find out this way," Ami said. "I
really wanted to tell you myself."

"Well it certainly explains a lot of the last two and a half
years," she replied. Maternally she brushed a forelock of hair from
Ami's forehead. "How did you come by such power?"

"Well," Ami began tentatively. "Mother, I'm the - -
reincarnation is the best term, I suppose, of the Princess of an
ancient civilization. I represent the planet Mercury and I'm one of
the retinue of the Princess of The Crystal Kingdom, which existed on
the Moon some time ago."

"Ami, do you know how fanciful that sounds?" her mother
grinned. "It sounds like a story out of those silly manga your
father used to give you to read." She sighed. "I suppose next
you'll tell me Usagi's the reincarnated Princess you're serving."

Ami only blushed uncomfortably.

"Amazing," the woman muttered, shaking her head. "But the
evidence is right before my eyes. I can't very well deny it."

"I would have told you earlier," Ami said, "but I was afraid.
Afraid you'd tell me to stop, because then I'd have to do it. And
logically, you couldn't tell me to stop if you didn't know."

"Teenage logic," she muttered, the corners of her mouth turned
up. "You forgot to factor in one thing, though: that I might realize
- - reluctantly - - that the risks you take are certainly for the
greater good."

"You're not going to tell me to stop?" Ami asked hopefully.

"That'd be a bit hypocritical, wouldn't it?" her mother asked.
"After all, I've subjected you to deprivations and sacrifices in
order to be there for my patients, haven't I?"

"I knew it had to be done," Ami shrugged.

"Well I can sacrifice, too. I'll be a huge white knuckle every
time you go off to some battle with some supernatural evil, but I
don't think I could live with myself if I kept you home when the
world needed you."

Ami hugged her mother. "Thank you for understanding."

"It's all right. After all, it's not like I didn't have
secrets from my mother when I was sixteen."

"You?" Ami asked, amazed.

Her mother seemed reluctant to reply further, but relented.
"When I was sixteen, I met a rude, indolent, self-absorbed,
impoverished," and she paused for a moment, the edges of her mouth
curling up, "utterly beautiful genius of an artist."

"Dad?"

"Yes," her mother smiled wistfully. "And one Saturday night I
told my mother I was going to spend the night at my friend Asuna's
house, but I spent the night with him instead."

"Mother!" Ami said in mock horror.

"Yes, and if YOU ever try to do such a thing, I will lock you
in a closet until you're thirty-six."

"Yes, Mother," Ami replied, then grinned. She sobered again
quickly. "Mother, I have to go. We have to find Sakiko before she
hurts anyone else."

Her mother took in a huge breath to steady herself. "I
understand. Please be careful."

"I will, Mother," Ami replied as she left.
* * * *
Hotaru and Momoko emerged from school with the same
exhilaration as all the other kids, since this was the last day of
the term. Momo was curious as to the surprise guest Hotaru had
promised her and questioned the girl about it as they walked through
the gate onto the sidewalk.

"Momo!" she heard a girl squeal and looked up from questioning
Hotaru. Momo saw a fifteen-year-old girl running up to her with arms
spread. She didn't recognize her at first, but the pink hair was the
giveaway. Who else could it be?

"Chibi-Usa?" gasped Momo. The girls met midway between,
wrapped their arms around each other and squeezed tight. "Oh my
goodness, Chibi-Usa! You've gotten so big!"

"Yeah, I'm finally bigger than you now!" she squealed.

"Yeah, in more ways than one!" Momo replied, glancing down at
Usa's expanded chest. "How do you stand up with a chest like that?"
She saw Usa blush furiously and immediately broke out in laughter.
It was a wonderfully familiar response from a long-lost old friend.

"Well it's a cinch you're never going to be a lady!" growled
Usa in mock fury. Then the two girls hugged each other again.

"Hey," Momo said, noticing the Amazon quartet. "I know you
four!" and she stepped protectively in front of Usa. "You're that
bunch from that circus!"

Ves-Ves tensed, but Cere-Cere stepped forward calmly.

"Yes, we were," Cere-Cere said in a conciliatory manner. "I
think I remember you, too. But that was a long time ago for us and
we've changed now."

"Yeah, they're with me," Usa said, embarrassed. "They're kind
of almost my posse."

"Really?" Momo asked. Usa rolled her eyes and nodded.

"What's a posse?" Palla-Palla asked Jun-Jun.

"Got me," Jun-Jun shrugged. "I hope it's good, whatever it
is."

"Wow, a lot's happened in your life since I last saw you." She
playfully jabbed her finger into Usa's arm. "And you're going to
tell me every last detail tonight!"

"Tonight?" Usa asked.

"I invited her to sleep over," Hotaru smiled. "I recalled you
two were friends before you met me. I thought you might like to
catch up a little."

"Oh, Hotaru, you're the best!" Usa squealed, hugging her
friend. "It's a good thing there's no school tomorrow, because I
don't think we're going to get any sleep tonight!" Usa, Momo and
Hotaru all started giggling.

"Wow, you must live in a palace, Miss Hotaru Ma'am," beamed
Palla-Palla.

"What makes you say that?" Hotaru asked.

"Well it must be a big place if all seven of us are going to
sleep there."

Instantly a very awkward silence draped over everyone.

"Did Palla-Palla say something wrong?" Palla-Palla asked
innocently.

Usa exhaled in mortification and turned hopefully to Hotaru.
"Do you think Haruka and Michiru will mind? They're kind of hard to
shake, you know?"

Hotaru grimaced at imagined turmoil to come. "I suppose we
won't know until we ask them."

Jun-Jun was about to speak up when Ves-Ves's hip nudged her.
She turned inquiringly to the girl.

"I'm not sleeping outside again," murmured Ves-Ves. Jun-Jun
let out an exasperated breath.

Hotaru entered the house flanked by Usa. "Michiru-mama!" she
called out. "I'm home. I've got something to ask you." The Amazons
waited by the door, in case they had to make a quick getaway.

"We're in here, Hotaru," they heard Michiru call from the
living room.

Hotaru looked to Usa for strength.

"Well, here we go," Hotaru smiled weakly. "Hope for the best."
She turned and headed for the living room, Usa behind her to present
a united front. "Michiru-Mama, is it all right if I have five
friends over? I promise we'll all be . . ."

Hotaru and Usa stopped short when they entered the room.
Gathered around a coffee table were Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna - - and
Usagi.

"Busted," muttered Usa under her breath.

"Hello, Chibi-Usa," Usagi said, unable to keep all of the hurt
and betrayal out of her voice.

Continued in Chapter 9